The Italian Espresso National Institute (Inei), which has been committed to the protection and dissemination of Italian Espresso since 20 years ago, has decided to become Inei Limited Co. Benefit, in order to make its actions even more intense and effective.

The Italian Espresso National Institute (Inei) gathers 35 members including equipment manufacturers, coffee roasters and supporting companies (aggregate turnover of approximately € 700 million). The decision to transform into Inei Limited Co. Benefit has been taken to make Inei’s commitment to the protection and dissemination of Italian Espresso ever more intense and effective.

"Inei was born in 1998. Twenty years after its foundation we have opted for a transformation that will allow us greater and better operations – commented Paolo Nadalet, the president of Inei – The legal form of Limited Co. Benefit was chosen to protect the spirit of Inei, as this form requires the board of directors to identify and pursue social interest purposes, to be duly reported at the end of each financial year".

"The protection of the Italian Espresso obviously remains the heart of Inei’s action and, in this sense, it will continue to guide our choices – added Luigi Odello, secretary general of Inei – Our commitment remains strong on both the national and the international markets, in terms of training of operators, with the support of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters (Iiac), as well as in terms of product quality control and events to help dissemination, such as our Italian Espresso Champion Competition".

Inei was assisted by the Ntcm law firm with a team comprising Vittorio Noseda, Luigi Ardizzone and Fabio Rebesco.

New certification sessions for Italian Espresso and for Espresso Italiano Trainers will take place in Italy from the 19th to the 22nd October 2015, just before the international trade show Host.

The Italian Espresso certification programme is run by the Italian Espresso National Institute (Inei) in cooperation with the International Institute of Coffee Tasters (Iiac). It is made up of two modules (M1 Espresso Italiano Tasting and M2 Espresso Italiano Specialist). The two courses will take place on the 19th and the 20th October and are valid for the Inei’s certification Italian Espresso.

The certification programme for Espresso Italiano Trainers will immediately follow on the 21st and 22nd October. Candidate trainers have to attend two more modules (M3 Senses Brain Sensory Analysis and EIT Espresso Italiano Trainer course). Certified trainers will be entitled to hold the sensory seminar Espresso Italiano Experience on behalf of the Iiac. The content of the seminar includes information on espresso and tasting techniques with the final aim of teaching the students how to assess the quality of Italian coffee. Each student receives a certificate after passing the thoery and tasting exams at the end of the seminar. There are more than 150 Espresso Italiano Trainers in the world.

For more information, please download the PDF or write to carlo.odello@italiantasters.com.

New certification sessions for Italian Espresso and for Espresso Italiano Trainers will take place in Brescia (Italy) from the 27th to the 30th October 2014, just after the international exhibition Triestespresso.

The Italian Espresso certification programme is run by the Italian Espresso National Institute (Inei) in cooperation with the International Institute of Coffee Tasters (Iiac). It is made up of two modules (M1 Espresso Italiano Tasting and M2 Espresso Italiano Specialist). The two courses will take place on the 27th and 28th October and are valid for the Inei’s certification Italian Espresso.

The certification programme for Espresso Italiano Trainers will immediately follow on the 29th and 30th October. Candidate trainers have to attend two more modules (M3 Senses Brain Sensory Analysis and EIT Espresso Italiano Trainer course). Certified trainers will be entitled to hold the sensory seminar Espresso Italiano Experience on behalf of the Iiac. The content of the seminar includes information on espresso and tasting techniques with the final aim of teaching the students how to assess the quality of Italian coffee. Each student receives a certificate after passing the thoery and tasting exams at the end of the seminar. There are more than 100 Espresso Italiano Trainers in the world.

For more information, please download the PDF or write to carlo.odello@italiantasters.com.

International Coffee Tasting, the coffee competition from the International Institute of Coffee Tasters (Iiac), is poised to conquer the world. International Coffee Tasting Asia 2013 will in fact be held in Tokyo this November. After four editions organized in Italy, the competition moves to one of the most definitely interesting areas for the world of coffee: Asia.

The rules and methods implemented will be the same that helped International Coffee Tasting succeed so far: completely blind tastings performed by Iiac tasters and statistic validation of data. Only the winners will be announced (those who ranked in the first 30 %), the others will still receive a sensory profile and their placement so that they will be adequately informed about their performance (in this sense, the competition is also a useful market research).

"The big difference is that the tasting commissions will be made up exclusively of Asian Iiac tasters: Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, Chinese," says the President of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters Luigi Odello, "Here is the real value of this competition: a sensorial evaluation performed by professionals who operate in arguably the most interesting export markets of the moment."

Many of the past winners have told us how being able to claim an International Coffee Tasting Gold Medal supported their export business. An award won in Asia for the Asian market could therefore have very important value.

Regulations and the application form are available at www.coffeetasters.org.

We are glad to announce a new certification session to become an Espresso Italiano Trainer. It will take place in Brescia (Italy) from 14 to 17 October 2013, just before the international exhibition Host in Milan.

The Espresso Italiano Trainer is entitled to hold the seminars “Espresso Italiano Experience” on behalf of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters. He is an ambassador of the Italian espresso culture and passes on information and basic tasting techniques to students, in order to evaluate the coffee.

The seminar “Espresso Italiano Experience” provides a basic training for the Italian espresso tasting. The basic principles of sensory analysis and the use of the tasting card must be passed on to participants in an intuitive way, alternating theory and practice of tasting. This can only be done by a qualified trainer: the Espresso Italiano Trainer.

For more information, please download the application form or write to carlo.odello@italiantasters.com.

by Carlo Odello

Trainer and member of the board of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters 

When I arrive in Taipei on Saturday afternoon, the city welcomes me by light rain that is getting heavier. It often rains here in Taiwan. My interpreter Raffaele always jokes about this and tells me that the rainiest city in the country is the one he comes from, which is even worse than Taipei!

When I get to the hotel I’m told that unfortunately I’m too early to check-in. I have to wait: Taipei is like a small Japan and yet they speak Chinese here – however I don’t intend to upset the orderly balance of this island. Raffaele, who apart from the Italian name is one hundred percent Taiwanese, suggests that we go and visit a good friend who has just changed his job. I think it’s a good idea. Three subway stops and twenty minutes later we get there.

The place is new and manages to combine Asian refinement with that modern touch that one can find in similar coffee bars in the United States (everyone knows that the Americans are good at exporting their formats). However, this one is not part of a big chain and it serves up the espresso of a famous Italian brand.

My friend wants me to try the coffee and give her my opinion on it. To say no in Italy would be rude, so never mind in Asia, where good manners are everything. And then again I haven’t had a real coffee in over 24 hours (why do they always serve up that dark broth on the flight?).

After a short wait we are served a cup of coffee of a known Italian brand. The first sip confirms what I had observed from looking at it: it’s under-extracted. It’s watery and bitter in the mouth and the aroma barely reaches my nose. It is well known that this coffee is delicate even when fully extracted, so under-extraction destroys it. The problem is not the quality of the product; you can drink far worse in Italy, as I tell my friend. With her beautiful Asian smile she asks me what I really think of it. And I explain the problem using all the tact that I possess. I do so in technical terms because she is a taster of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters.

She nods in agreement: it is under-extracted and she explains why. Basically, the owner of the coffee bar does not allow anyone to adjust the grinding, as he is probably terrified of the possibility of wasting coffee. In a country where the least that you can expect is rain, getting up to typhoons during the summer, grinding coffee correctly becomes very important.

I think to myself that the issue is not the owner of the bar who imposes this strict diktat. The point is the Italian brand which should probably check up more on what goes on in the bars that serve up its coffee. Business is business, but not checking what customers are doing in a turbulent market such as the Taiwanese market means that you stoop to the mediocre quality offered by the American and Japanese chains that are popping up everywhere on the island.

The good news is that meanwhile it has stopped raining and I can take up the road towards the hotel. The under-extracted coffee has given me a coup de grace: I’m totally ready to enjoy the comfort of my room now.

by Carlo Odello *

We just scheduled an Espresso Italiano Tasting course just the day before the Host show in Milan (20 October 2011). Many professionals wrote us asking about this course: here it is! The course will take place in Brescia, hometown to the International Institute of Coffee Tasters. This means just 1,5 hours fom the Host show in Milan.

Why should you attend an Espresso Italiano Tasting course? I can think of many good reasons, but one seems to me the most important: to go back to the roots of Espresso, to understand the culture in which it was born.

I have been working in the coffee business for some years (not counting the years I was at the university but already spent some time at the events of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters and of the Italian Espresso National Institute). And I have been travelling around the world in the last few years training people how to taste Italian Espresso.

What did I discover? Easy to say: coffee is culture, means it is strongly connected to real life. It is like Chinese tea: you cannot understand it unless a Chinese explains it to you. That’s because he or she is Chinese and was born and raisen up in the real Chinese tea culture. The same for Japanese tea. And for any other specific tea culture.

Let us make you discover the real Italian Espresso culture. If you are interested in understanding how to recognize and evaluate the real Italian Espresso, just download the brochure from the link below. You can also drop me an email at carlo.odello@italiantasters.com if you need further information about the course.

Download:

Italian Espresso Tasting course: brochure (PDF)

* Trainer and member of the board of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters

Espresso Italiano Tasting, the official handbook of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters, has just been published in Chinese. And more courses and seminars on tasting Italian Espresso are coming in Guangzhou next week (July 26th-31st). The classes will be held by Carlo Odello, member of the board of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters. For  more information about the courses and the book please contact Ms Jolin (jolin@acoffee.cn).

by Carlo Odello *

The blend seems to be regaining ground in several countries where for many years the espresso has been seen as a single origin product. We are actually receiving signs of interest in the blend from the United States, and the same can be said for Japan.

This situation often leads to a double interpretation. Some rejoice saying that the rediscovery of the blend is a clear sign of more complex aromatic research. Others however, perhaps the more pessimistic, see it from a different light: the carefully selected single origins, particularly some washed Central American origins, have become very expensive in their pure form. Laws: the profit margin has fallen drastically compared to the past.

However the fact remains that for money or for love, the blend seems to catch on again. Not a bad thing for the Italian espresso which has always cherished the blend.

* Trainer and member of the board of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters

The International Institute of Coffee Tasters will organize a new edition of Caffè Italia, the Italian Espresso event, at Foodex 2011, the most important food exhibition in Japan (Tokyo, Makuhari Messe, Hall 3, booth C01, March 1-4).

The second edition of Caffè Italia will give visitors the opportunity of tasting six different Italian Espresso blends and evaluate them. For the first time visitors will have to judge the espresso blends using a tasting card. Caffè Italia will also host training sessions held by Chihiro Yokoyama.

Carlo Odello, member of the board of the International Institute of Coffee Tasters and communications manager of the Italian Espresso National Institute, will be at Caffè Italia, too. "We aim at spreading the culture of the real Italian Espresso and Caffè Italia is a great opportunity for us – Mr Odello said – Japan proved to be very sensitive to Italian Espresso, we now have more than 300 tasters in the country. We recently launched the Espresso Italiano Tasting classes in China and are looking for partners in other Asian countries such as Korea and Thailand".

Caffè is organized in cooperation with the International Institute of Coffee Tasters – Japan, the Italian Espresso National Institute and the Italian Trade Commission.

For more information: info@coffeetasters.jp, carlo.odello@italiantasters.com.